Matthesen

JOHN MATTHESEN

John Matthesen began his career in restaurants, getting trained first as a chef, then advancing into hotel management. He worked at many hotels, resorts and restaurants around the west and Hawaii.

Living in the Bay Area, he got exposed to computers and technology. Making the jump into the high-tech world, he was lucky enough to be part of the startup teams for not one, but two zero-to-IPO companies.

After working all over the world with high-tech companies, John decided that it was time to shift efforts from making systems to get people to click on more ads to something more beneficial to people and planet. He returned to his roots in food, and is now promoting the Agri-Tech industry – the intersection of high-tech with food and water production. He started his own urban farm here in the Bay Area, and is now a professor of Urban Farming and Farm-to-Table in the Culinary Department at Diablo Valley College, where he is alternatively known as either Farmer John or Chef John. He is also working on his first Agri-Tech startup, a precision farming system to reduce use of herbicides.